Gay rights activist hacked to death by Islamists

A GAY rights activist who started Bangladesh's first magazine for the LGBT community has been hacked to death by suspected Islamist militants.

Reuters reported the attack came two days after a university professor was killed in similar fashion on Saturday in an attack claimed by the Islamic State group.

Five or six people went to the apartment of Julhas Mannan, the editor of Bangladesh's first magazine for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community Rupban, and attacked him and a friend with sharp weapons

Witnesses said the attackers shouted "Allahu Akbar" as they fled the scene.

The Muslim-majority nation of 160 million people has seen a surge in violent attacks over the past few months in which liberal activists, members of minority Muslim sects and other religious groups have been targeted.